Jan Sammeck

• The idea of self-regulation as an instrument capable of mitigating socially undesirable practices in industries – such as corruption, environmental degradation, or the violation of human rights – is receiving substantial consideration in theory and practice. By approaching this phenomenon with ideas from the theory of the New Institutional Economics and theory on collective goods, this paper proposes an analytical approach that points out the critical mechanisms which decide about the effectiveness of this instrument. It highlights the necessity to look at the institutional incentives of an industry, in order to gain insights about the feasibility and effectiveness of this instrument in a given situation.